Immigration Stories
Throughout history stories have been used to illuminate, to educate, to recount, to challenge and to engage. Every individual’s life experience is unique and dynamic, particularly for those of us who have journeyed far from our homes to establish new lives in foreign countries.
Australia’s migrant history has enabled us to develop into the strong nation we are today. Personal stories and anecdotes are an important opportunity to enrich the public record and to embellish our history. Immigration Place Australia encourages the collection of immigrant stories. By giving a voice to our immigrants, we hope to record significant experiences with increased depth and nuance. We envision an opportunity to connect generations and to build community via a comprehensive record of the distinctive immigration footprint of Australia.
IPA’s mission is to continue to collect stories until completion of the construction of Immigration Place in Canberra. At that time, subject to the agreement of the National Archives of Australia those stories will be transferred to their website – Destination Australia.
We encourage you to record your stories or those of your ancestors.
All Stories
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George Sutherland was born in Wick Caithness Scotland on 29/1/1829. His parents were John Sutherland and Louisa Thompson. George married Elizabeth Baikie on 2/12/1851 at Wick. George was a stonemason. He and Elizabeth and young son John, sailed…
George Sutherland, Scotland, 1854
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James Barko arrived in Australia from England on the ‘Gothic’ in April, 1912 aged 21. He was born Otto Julius Barkowsky in London, England in February, 1891. His father (Julius George Barkowsky) was a horticulturist and owned and operated…
Otto Julius Barkowsky, England, UK, 1912
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Reason for leaving homeland – To provide better working opportunities for the family, even though John had been a very successful business man in Holland.
About the Journey – We were self-funded, and travelled to Australia on the P&O…
Johannes Albertus (John) Sanders, Holland (Netherlands), 1952
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My late husband Eberhard Fritz Funk was born in Koenigsberg. Germany, on the 12.06.1929. He was the youngest of three children.
Life was pretty good until the beginning of the war when his father had to join the army. In 1944 Koenigsberg was invaded…
Eberhard Funk, Germany, 1955
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George was placed into the Barnado Homes system as a young boy after both his parents had died and the stepmother he was living with could no longer support him. Although he was actually the half brother of her children she sought the help of Barnados..…
George Hine, England, 1930
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Pietro Driussi was a member of the Italian army during World War II and was captured by British forces in Massawa, Eritrea on the 8th of April 1941.
He was transported to Australia, via India, eventually arriving into Melbourne on the 28th of February…
Pietro Driussi, Italy, 1944
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Lajos Olasz DOB 31/08/1914 and Maria (nee Ekler) DOB 30/08/1912.
Maria escaped from Hungary prior to the Russian invasion in 1945. Both met in Wels, Austria as displaced persons (DPs). Lajos had been an Hungarian mounted police sergeant with farming…
Lajos Olasz, Hungary, 1949
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Reason for leaving homeland – Left with his family as a child. Father had previously gone to South Africa. Employment prospects not good. ‘Carrie & all her brood are going to Australia’ – family letter – 1911.…
Hector McLachlan, England, 1912
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Reason for leaving homeland – Poor working conditions and better prospects in Australia. The family lived right beside the waterfront where work was close. They came from a large family and were in the middle so were not the ones who would have…
James Holdaway, England, 1869
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I meet and fell madly in love with a foreign exchange student named Robert Gale Macaulay while finishing the MBA program at Washington State University. We met in early August 1999 though the campus residential housing RA program and on March 28th…
Marnie Marlene Zuehlsdorff Macaulay, USA, 2001
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Carmela Piscioneri
(Married name Carmela Manno)
The only daughter of Pietro Piscioneri and Rosa Cavallaro, Carmela was born in the Calabrian Mountains on 7 July 1906. Like many other women from her village of San Nicola di Caulonia she was to experience…
Carmela Piscioneri (Married name Manno), Italy, 1936
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Vincenzo Manno
Vincenzo was born in 1899 in the village of San Nicola in the Calabrian Mountains, the only son of Pietro Manno and Carmela Simonetta. He was 8 years old when his mother died and 12 when his father passed away. He and his sisters Caterina,…
Vincenzo Manno, Italy, 1927
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Giuseppe Dichiera was born on 18 October 1922 in San Nicola di Caulonia, Italy. He was the youngest of Rocco Dichiera & Carmela Simonetta\’s children & their only son.
In October 1927 Rocco left for Australia. In 1936, aged 13, Giuseppe…
Giuseppe Dichiera, Italy, 1936
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Maria Carmela Simonetta
(Married name Maria Carmela Dichiera)
The pain of separation tore at Maria Carmela\’s heart despite the comfort and security migration gave her family. Forced by necessity from her village of San Nicola in the Calabrian…
Maria Carmela Simonetta (Married name Dichiera), Italy, 1936
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Rocco Dichiera
It was said of Rocco Dichiera that he was born working. He entered the world in 1876 in San Nicola di Caulonia, Italy, the son of Giuseppe Dichiera and Caterina Piscioneri. The only son in a family which included three sisters (two of …
Rocco Dichiera, Italy, 1927
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Twice I have left my homeland; the first was in 1947, I was 14 yrs old. WW2 had ended in 1945 and Orsera (Istria) where I was born and spent my childhood was occupied by Communist Yugoslavia.
Being Italian and having strong anti-communist feelings my…
Antonio Masseni, Italy, 1952
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Theo, his younger sister Gerda and brother Tony departed from Holland aboard the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt with their mother Grada on 11th November 1952. They sailed via the Suez Canal to meet up with their father who had already been in Australia …
Theodorus A Reyntjes, Holland, 1952
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Silvio was born at home in Ostiglia, Mantova, Italy, on 17 October 1902, youngest of 10 children of Eugenia (nee Pozzati) and Cesare. He grew up in Ostiglia on the River Po, and though they were poor he had a contented childhood with happy memories of…
Silvio Ganzerla, Italy, 1921
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Reason for leaving homeland – To get involved in the family winery at Murrumbateman, NSW.
We came via the United States staying in New York City, it felt like the capital of the world, and then in Los Angeles. My daughter celebrated her birthday…
Christpoher Mackenzie Davey, UK, 2000
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Jack was born and raised in Torquay, one of three main towns making up the English Riviera.
He joined the Royal Navy in 1943, when he was 18 years old, and travelled first to Normandy in France before sailing to Australia on the ship ‘New Amsterdam’.…
Jack Dyer, UK, 1948
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My mother and father came here to start a new life, but it was a hard life for them. Mum was 19 and never went back to visit her parents and died at 73 years of age .
In Germany she lived with her parents in a apartment building with all mod cons and here her first…
Peter Zwarecz, Germany, 1950
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Mine is a modern tale. I met my future husband in a pub in London in Maida Vale. I had just graduated a year or so before – still looking for that dream graduate job whilst working in a library and having a great time living back in central London.…
Hazel Clarke, Australia, 1994
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I met Marion from Melbourne while on holiday in Crete in 1993. We fell in love and she came to live with me in Edinburgh for two years when we then decided to marry in Melbourne and finally moved there in 1996.
We now have two beautiful daughters Mia and …
Thomas Robertson, Scotland, 1996
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Due to economic tough times in England after World War Two my parents sent my older brother to Australia through the big brother movement in February 1965. My parents and I followed in December of the same year. We left Buckinghamshire and the village…
Carol Wilson (Bayliss), England, 1965
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Freda was offered a challenging position to establish new early childhood teacher education degree and child care courses at the State College of Victoria at Coburg. At that time there were no Australian degrees in this field and Freda was unusual…
Freda, Ken, Alister David & Philippa Jane BRIGGS, UK, 1976
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Luigi (Gino) CATTONI was born at Rovato, Brescia, Italy on 19 February, 1894 and died at Ingham, North Queensland on 22 June, 1969. Luigi was the second of seven children of the marriage between Vittorio Domenico CATTONI (blacksmith & builder…
Luigi (Gino) CATTONI, Italy, 9/2/2022
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Patrick Grace was born in March 1815 at Lusk, County Dublin, Ireland. He was the son of James and Mary (nee Dunn) Grace. In April 1841 Patrick married Mary Wright at Lusk. Mary Wright was the daughter of William and Catherine (nee Russell) Wright and…
Patrick Grace, Ireland, 1841
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